Wednesday, May 21, 2014

The purpose of this series is to celebrate womanhood and our "common threads"....seriously, it's amazing when I read posts from bloggers all around the world, we really do have way more in common than we have differences. If only sewing bloggers ruled the world....

Since the theme of this is to sew either for yourself or someone you love, I realized that I had the perfect person to sew for. If you've read my blog, you know I sew for my youngest daughter, Julia. Well, I do have other children, so today, you get to hear about my older daughter (and former middle child until Julia came along) - Melissa.

Melissa was born at 2 pounds 2 ounces. Surgery, etc. Weighed about 1 pound 13 ounces at one point. But, literally from the get-go, this kid wouldn't give up. See, Melissa is a fighter. A competitor. One of the absolute hardest working people you will ever meet. And, one of the nicest.

Melissa was a gymnast her entire life. It really defines who she is. Now, she's graduated college with a degree in exercise and sports science, works as a certified personal trainer, and a gymnastics coach. The kid works her butt off.

Melissa is engaged. Yes, she is. To a super-nice, just plain old good guy. Aren't they cute?

So, I decided to take this opportunity to celebrate the day when my child will be starting her own house/home. And, since she lives currently in my house, she seriously has no "house stuff". So, I thought I make her some.

I started with the Divided Basket Pattern by Noodlehead. Really, who doesn't need some containers in their life? I knew that I wanted to use some very cool fabric - it's called Comfort Words from Yuwa. It has a whole bunch of very positive expressions and words on it, and I really thought it would be perfect for just about anywhere in their house.

I also wanted to make some things for her kitchen, so I made these as well:

Have you ever made an oven mitt? Well, I hadn't until this project, and now I'm going to be making a TON - super easy, and now I've got no excuse for having pitiful potholders/mitts in my kitchen. I just used a tutorial I found somewhere (which I lost the link to...sorry!) - but putting the band on the bottom was an absolute bear, so I think I'd put it together differently next time. The towel is a purchased one with a strip of fabric sewn on - how ridiculously easy?

To me, there's nothing that celebrates womanhood more than the anticipation of starting a new and exciting chapter of your life, so I'm glad this gave me a little bit of a push to make something for my older daughter!

Thanks to the Shaffer Sisters and Call Ajaire for asking me!

Here's the list of folks participating - definitely, go check out their blogs as well!

Monday, May 12, 2014

As a teeny bit of an introduction if you've never visited my blog, I sew (mainly) for my youngest daughter and run an on-line fabric shop - all in my spare time while working full time!

Here's some of my latest sewing creations:

I'm giving away a $40 gift certificate to my on-line fabric shop - www.the-fabric-stash.com - open to international entries - and is a random giveaway. The only mandatory entry is to leave a blog comment, but feel free to get the additional entries listed in the Rafflecopter widget!

PLEASE NOTE! I'm having an issue with the widget to follow on Instagram - on Instagram, I'm at:the_fabric_stash_boss - so if you search by user, you should find me!

Sunday, May 11, 2014

These patterns have been out for a couple of months. Since I have a shop, I immediately ordered them for the shop. But, the minute they were released, I immediately downloaded the Garden Party Dress. I loved it that much! But, I haven't had time....

I had the fabric - a really great cotton lawn from Robert Kaufman's London Calling line. It wasn't crazy expensive or anything, but I really loved it and wanted it to be used for the perfect project.

This is how reliable the Oliver + S patterns are - you can use the good stuff without worry. I had never made this pattern before, but I knew it would fit the kid, and go together perfectly. I was right.

A great pattern, yes?

Thanks for reading! Stop back tomorrow because I'm going to be participating in the Sew Mama Sew giveaway day - I'll be giving away a $40 gift certificate to the shop!

Saturday, May 10, 2014

Several weeks ago, I got an email from Rachael from Imagine Gnats asking if I was available to test her newest pattern, the Alder Skirt.

Of course I was! I had seen pictures of it on Instagram, so I already knew how cute it was.

Since I live on the edge, I let the 4 year old pick the fabric. She chose a very funky cotton from Jenean Morrison's Grand Hotel line:

Funky, right?

I had three colors of interlock knit to make a top - I had a light peach, an orange, and yellow. I voted for the peach, my husband voted for the orange, but Julia chose yellow. As it turned out, a good choice!

First of all, the Alder Skirt - it's a really cute design. The pockets lie slightly away from the skirt which is a detail the kid really likes. There's a flat front, which I prefer, and an elasticized back. Since taking these photos, Julia has worn this outfit 3 times already, so a definite success. As far as the sewing, for some reason, I had to get my head around the pocket construction, but the directions are really clear, so just follow them, and they work perfectly. Once I figured them out, they lined up perfectly when I attached the waistband. I have another cut out from a plain fabric which I'm hoping to make soon, so the details of this adorable skirt will show better. Oh, and the sizing is spot on - this is a size 4, and I actually hemmed it a bit shorter than the pattern called for (which is unusual for me as Julia's on the tall side) because I thought the shorter length went better with the retro vibe of the pattern/fabric combo.

And, the shirt - it's my second Oliver + S School Bus T-Shirt. I added the absolute perfect and simple embroidery design from Urban Threads - really, adding this little touch of embroidery really makes the outfit, in my opinion. Urban Threads is a seriously dangerous site, if you have an embroidery machine....